Lighting projectile



Nov. 14, 1944. E. w. BRANDT 2,362,534

LIGHTING PROJEGTILE Filed Jan. 21. 1941 lNV/ENTOR 0 EDGAR W. BRANnT ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 14, 1944 UNITED STATES LIGHTING PROJECTILE Edgar William Brandt, Sageb Socit Anony tation de brevets, Fri

Paris, France, assigner to poration of Switzerland il Application January 21, 1941, Serial No. 375,334

In France January 12, 1940 5 Claims.

The object of the present invention is a lighting projectile more particularly intended to be iired from smooth bore morta-rs.

It.-has been designed in such a manner as to enable it to carry to far greater ranges than the usual projectiles. It is provided with a device which makes it possible, prior to ring, to regulate the period of time at the expiration of which ejection will occur, said period commencing at the time the shot is red- The projectile in question is of the type comprising a torpedo shaped body in which are enclosed: the flare slab, a suspension parachute and an ejecting charge; the body being provided, at

the rear, with a radially perforated tubular tail intended to accommodate a propelling cartridge.

It is characterised, in particular,.by the fact that said tail is rotationally mounted'in the base of the projectile and that it comprises a unit for igniting the ejecting charge', said unit, according to the angular setting given to the tail, being capable of co-operating with either of` several combined igniting units, the delay actions of which are different, positioned within an axial rod cony necting the movable tail with the ejecting charge, the front end of said rod being provided With a plate which bears against a shoulder in the body of the projectile and serves as a rear support for the flare slab.

The igniting unit housed within the rotating tail may be, for instance, a small rod intended to be driven by the deiiagration of the propelling cartridgeagainst a primer cap of the delay action compound intended to ignite the ejection` charge.

According to another peculiarity of the invention, the cartridge-carrying tail which is provided, at the rear, with stabilising fins is equipped, in front of the latter, witha flange directed rear- Wards which serves as a retainer for cartridge bags containing' additional propelling charges which come into engagement on the one hand with said flange and, on the other hand, with the suitably incurvated front edge of the fins:

Other advantages and peculiarities of the present invention will appear in the following description.

In the attached drawing given merely as an' example:

Figure 1 is an axial section of' a lighting projectile according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the component parts of the stamping enclosing the parachute and the nare slab at the moment when they are breaking apart (when ejection occurs) Figure 3- is an end view from the rear;

me de Gestion et dexploibourg, Switzerland, a cor- Figure 4 is a section through 4-4 (Fig. l);

Figure 5 is a partial view, in elevation, of the tail;

Figure 6 shows the flare slab suspended from its parachute after ejection.

According to the example shown, the body of the projectile comprises a central cylindrical portion l which is extended rearwards by a tapering base piece 2, with thicker walls, and which terminates in a cylindrical appendage S'appreciably smaller in diameter than the calibre.

The iront of body l is closed by an ogival cover 4 screwed or otherwise secured to body I at point 5, the attachment being contrived so as to collapse under the effect of the deilagration of the ejecting charge.

The body of the projectile contains, from front to rear: parachute 6 attached by a cable l to flare slab 8 which is provided at its lower end with an igniting charge 9 capable of being ignited by ejecting charge l0.

The parachute and the flare slab are housed inside a stamping H, open at the rear and constituted by several juxtaposed members (Fig. 2)

' A spring i2, bearing against the bottom of cover 4, tends to drive the stamping and its contents out of the cover immediately ejection occurs. Stamping Il rests against the rear edge of cover Il by means of a bulge l 3.

Ejecting charge I0 is housed within a recess contrived a plate lll, which serves as a rear support for ilare slab 8, and which itself bears against a shoulder I 5i of the body of the projectile. Said plate is integral with a rod lli positioned f concentric with the axis of the projectile and perforated by several longitudinal channels enclosing delay action compounds Il the dura-tions of combustion of which are different. Each one of said channels opens out eccentrically, at the rear of rod i5, and is provided with a primer I8.

In appendage 3, which forms the base of the projectile. is rotatably mounted a tubular tail I8, open at the rear and comprising, in known manner. lateral perfor-ations 2li. Said tail receives a propelling cartridge 2l which engages therein with a certain amount of friction. The bottom of tail i9 is drilled with a longitudinal channel, out of centre, in which is positioned a small rod 22 acting as a selective firing pin for primers I 3 and intended to be driven against any one of said primers under the elect of the deflagration of the gases of the cartridge. Until the shot is red, firing rod 22 is held in the safety position by a disk 23 the resistance of which is calculated in such a manner that it can only be pierced by the effect of a pressure of the order of magnitude of that brought into action at the time the shot is fired.

At its rear end, tail I9 is provided with stabilizing iins 24 the front edge of which is preferably incurved on the inner side to provide a notch as shown at point 25 (Fig. l) in order to secure additional charges 2S which engage, on the other hand, under a flanged sleeve 21, directed outwards and towards the rear, which is placed on tail i9 in front of iins 24. Additional charges 25 are generally enclosed in combustible cartridge-bags the base of which is Celluloid or some other similar substance sufficiently plastic to lend itself to their adaptation on the tail in the manner'shown.

The sleeve 21 comprises an inwardly curved tab 21a intended to engage with slots provided in appendage 3.

The angular position of the tail with respect to appendage 3 is indicated by means of figures such as' II engraved on said appendage, with which the tab is made to register according to the duration of the delay action desired before ejection (Fig. 5).

According to the angular position given to the tail, iiring rod 22 will strike a selected one of primers I8 when the shot is nred and, through delay action devices l1, will cause the ignition of ejecting charge l on the expiration of the period of time desired. Said charge drives out cover 4 together with stamping Il and its contents substantially concentric with the axis of the projectile, the cylindrical portion of which acts as a gun barrel. Spring i2 then pushes the stamping away from the cover; and the flare slab B, dropping owing to the force of gravity, withdraws parachute 6 from stamping Il the component parts of which fall apart as shown in Figure 2, The flare slab, ignited by ejecting charge i@ and suspended from the parachute which opens out, burns and producesthe desired illumination (Fig. 6).

The flare slab may, of course, be of any sort whatsoever and produce white or coloured light, and it might contain signal stars in case of need, etc.

Itis to be understood that the present invention has only been illustrated and described as an example and that various modifications might be made to it without exceeding its scope.

I claim:

l. A projectile comprising a hollow structure including a body and a tail connected thereto for relative rotation about the axis of said structure; a flare slab and a suspension parachute therefor located in said body, an ejecting charge positioned in the body for ejecting the flare slab and parachute; a plurality of igniting units for the ejecting charge and having individually different delay periods and positioned in said hollow structure and having individual primers, each of said igniting units being capable upon vdeflagration oi igniting the ejecting charge; a pressureactuated ring pin carried by said hollow structure and selectively presented, in accordance with the prevailing relative angular position of the body and tail, in position for exciting the primer` of the selected igniting unit upon the exertion of the gas pressure for propelling the projectile, whereby to determine the time of expulsion and ignition of the flare slab and parachute, and means for preventing the selecting device from exciting any of the primers except upon the exertion of said gas pressure.

v the ejecting charge; and

2. A projectile comprising a hollow structure including a body and a tail connected thereto for relative rotation about the axis of said structure; a nare slab and a suspension parachute therefor located in said body, an ejecting charge positioned in the body for ejecting the are slab and parachute; a plurality of igniting units for the ejecting charge and having individually different delay periods and positioned in said body and having individual primers located eccentric to said axis, each of said igniting units being capable upon deagration of igniting the ejecting charge; said tail having a cavity, a propelling charge in said cavity, and a ring pin eccentrically carried by said tail and selectively presented, in accordance with the prevailing relative angular position of the body and tail, in position with one end opposite the primer of the selected igniting unit and with the other end exposed to the pressure in said cavity whereby the firing pin ignites the said selected primer upon deflagration of the cartridge for the propulsion of the projectile, whereby to determine the time of expulsion and ignition of the flare slab and parachute, and a safety disk located between the firing pin and the primers, of strength to resist piercing except under the action of a pressure upon the firing pin of the order of magnitude of that set up by deagration of the cartridge. l

3. A projectile comprising a hollow structure including a body' and a tail connected thereto for relative rotation about the axis of said structure; a nare slab and a suspension parachute therefor located in the front of said body, an ejecting charge positioned in the body for ejecting the flare slab and parachute; a plurality of igniting units for the ejecting charge and having individually different delay periods and positioned in said body and having individual primers located eccentric to said axis, each ofsaid igniting units being capable upon deflagration of igniting a ring pin eccentrically carried by said tail and selectively presented, in accordance with the prevailing relative angular position of the body and tail, in position for exciting theprimer of the selected igniting unit upon the propulsion of the projectile, whereby to determine the time of expulsion and ignition of the flare slab and parachute; a sleeve embracing the forward end of the tail and having a detent engageable with the body for indicating and fixing the relative position of rotation of the body and tail.

4. A projectile comprising a hollow structure including a body and a tail connected thereto for relative rotation about the axis of said structure; a nare slab and a suspension parachute therefor located in the front of said body, an ejecting charge positioned in the body for ejecting the flare slab and parachute; a plurality of igniting units for the jecting charge and having individually diierent delay periods and positioned in said body and having individual primers located yeccentric to said axis, each of said igniting units being capable upon deflagration of igniting the ejecting charge; and a firing pin eccentrically carried by said tail and selectively presented, in accordance with the prevailing relative angular position of the body and tail, in position for exciting the primer of the selected igniting unit upon the propulsion of the projectile, whereby to determine the time of expulsion and ignition of the flare slab and parachute; a sleeve embracing the forward end of the tail and having a detent engageable with the body for indicating and means selectively energizable at dilerent rela.- 10

tive positions of rotation of the bodypand tail; a sleeve embracing the body and tail and connected to said tail and having a detent for engaging the body for xing the relative rotated position of the body and tail, said sleeve also having a flange positioned opposite the notch for cooperation therewith for retaining a propelling charge for the projectile.

EDGAR WILLIAM BRANDT. 

